One of the key elements of the Big Bang theory is the notion that in the initial moments of time, space itself expanded at a clip much, much faster than light. This is known as the "inflationary epoch" (though we would find the word epoch counter-intuitive as it only lasted between 10−33 and 10−32 seconds at the start of the universe.
An astonishing find that is being characterized as a "smoking gun" and a potential nobel prize winner has taken place.
http://www.bbc.com/...
...inflation came with a very specific prediction - that it would be associated with waves of gravitational energy, and that these ripples in the fabric of space would leave an indelible mark on the oldest light in the sky - the famous Cosmic Microwave Background.
The BICEP2 team says it has now identified that signal. Scientists call it B-mode polarisation. It is a characteristic twist in the directional properties of the CMB. Only the gravitational waves moving through the Universe in its inflationary phase could have produced such a marker. It is a true "smoking gun".
"Detecting this signal is one of the most important goals in cosmology today. A lot of work by a lot of people has led up to this point," said Prof John Kovac of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a leader of the BICEP2 collaboration.
More below the fold...
This is a particularly important discovery, as in recent decades, a number of scientists have challenged Big Bang theory. This discovery effectively kills off those alternate models, such as the Ekpyrotic universe (the idea that the universe is somewhat cyclical, and after it dies off from heat death, the brane it rests on collides with another brane and is reignited), as well as most variations of the "Big Bounce" theory (the notion that a prior universe collapsed, didn't quite become a single point singularity, and then bounced back out into the space it had already occupied.)
More on the BICEP2 telescope project.
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/...
The JPL news release.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/...
"Our technology combines the properties of superconductivity with tiny structures that can only be seen with a microscope. These devices are manufactured using the same micro-machining process as the sensors in cellphones and Wii controllers," said Anthony Turner, who makes these devices using specialized fabrication equipment at JPL's Microdevices Laboratory.
The B-mode signal is extremely faint. In order to gain the necessary sensitivity to detect the polarization signal, Bock and Turner developed a unique array of multiple detectors, akin to the pixels in modern digital cameras but with the added ability to detect polarization. The whole detector system operates at a frosty 0.25 Kelvin, just 0.45 degrees Fahrenheit above the lowest temperature achievable, absolute zero.
"This extremely challenging measurement required an entirely new architecture," said Bock. "Our approach is like taking a camera and building it on a printed circuit board."
The BICEP2 experiment used 512 detectors, which sped up observations of the cosmic microwave background by 10 times over the team's previous measurements. Their new experiment, already making observations, uses 2,560 detectors.
These and future experiments not only help confirm that the universe inflated dramatically, but are providing theorists with the first clues about the exotic forces that drove space and time apart.
UPDATE:
Side Pocket also covered this discovery in last night's "Overnight News Digest" and pointed me at a video posted by Palantir illustrating gravity waves.